The present invention relates to an ink transfer printer which transfers ink to a recording sheet (such as a plain paper) to form an image thereon.
Among printers which transfer ink onto a recording sheet such as plain paper, the following printers are known: an ink jet printer that jets ink onto the recording sheet from nozzles as liquid droplets, a thermal transfer printer that heats an ink ribbon (which can be melted by heat) using a thermal head, thereby to transfer the ink onto the recording sheet; and a wire impact dot matrix printer that uses a steel wire for striking ink ribbons against the recording sheet.
However, these known printers have following problems: the ink jet printer may encounter clogging of ink in the nozzle; the thermal transfer printer may increase running cost due to the consumption of ink ribbons; and the wire dot printer is inferior in processing speed. Thus, a printer in which ink clogging is prevented, having a low running cost and a high processing speed, is desired.